Conventional spools and reels for drawing or winding cordage such as wire, cord, string, cable and the like stranded material onto the spool or reel are fabricated from wood, metal and plastic materials. The spools must be able to transfer cordage between the barrel or tube portion and the end flanges of the spools during winding of the cordage onto the spool and must have sufficient strength and stiffness to not only support the load of the cordage but also to avoid failure of the flanges when transporting and loading and unloading loaded spools.
A disadvantage of current three-piece metal spools, however, resides in the difficulty of assembling the end flanges to the ends of the barrel. It is known to provide tabs at the ends of the barrel which fit through punched out holes in the flanges and are crimped to the flanges. However, the tabs can become dislodged from the flanges causing the spools to collapse and lose their load of cordage.
It is also known to provide a curl joint between the flanges and the barrel. The flanges are not fastened to the barrel and are prone to slip circumferentially with respect to the barrel. Each flange has a central arbor hole for receiving a shaft through the hollow barrel for rotating the spool during loading and unloading of cordage by winding of the spool by engagement with drive holes formed in the flanges. Slippage of the flanges on the barrel impedes winding of cordage on the spools during loading.
It is a principal object of the invention therefore to provide a spool assembly having the flanges locked or keyed onto the barrel to prevent circumferential slippage of the flanges on the barrel.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,289,570 issued Sep. 18, 2001 discloses a die and a method for assembling five-piece spools comprised of a cylindrical barrel and a pair of two-piece flange sub assemblies disposed at opposite ends of the barrel. Each two-piece flange sub assembly comprises a disc-shaped outer flange having a central circular hub opening for receiving an end of the barrel therein and a flange core disposed in the hub opening. The outer flange, barrel end and flange core are joined together at the central hub opening by a curl joint formed of closely interfitting curled metal edges of the outer flange, cylindrical barrel end and flange core. The curl joint is tightened by a die which concurrently forms detents at a plurality of locations around the tightened curl to lock the two-piece flange sub assembly to the barrel and provide transfer torque between the spool components during wire winding. The die is complex and the method for assembly requires an additional operational step.
It is another object of the present invention therefore to provide a simple and inexpensive five-piece spool assembly which can be readily manufactured from sheet metal, which is light in weight while having a strong and rigid construction, and which keep keys the flanges to the barrel to prevent circumferential slippage.